Gillian & Rob, Wishes Wedding 09.25.15

[gillbean90]

>> Edited with Pictures & Table of Contents!

Hi Everyone,
I figured I would start a thread for my own wedding!

WEDDING OVERVIEW
Date: Friday 09.25.15
Ceremony: 12pm @ Disney's Wedding Pavilion
Reception Location: 1pm - 6pm @ Atlantic Dance Hall on Disney's Boardwalk
Rehearsal Dinner: Catered on Thursday September 24th @ The Attic
Photography: Regina Hyman
Videography: Trinity Wedding Cinema
Hair & Makeup: Beaute Speciale
Officiant: TBD
Florist: Disney/TBD

THE NEW AND IMPROVED TABLE OF CONTENTS
Our Story
Vendor Updates
The Dress/Bridesmaid Dress
Wedding Party Invites
Save The Dates

OUR STORY
Rob and I met in our senior year of college. We met in the first week of school, at a mutual friend's party. Rob was looking for a beer pong partner and I said I'd play. We lost terribly, but just could not stop talking for the entire night. At the end of the night, he walked me to my apartment in the same complex, and I gave him my phone number and the rest is history. We dated through our senior year and after graduation(May 2012) dared to do long distance while I did the Disney College Program in Walt Disney World for 7 months, and he started his engineering job in NY. After the program I came back to New York, and on August 30th 2013 we got engaged while on a cruise with my family. (more on the engagement to come)

(one of my first instagram pictures ever) This one in particular is from when I was doing the DCP, and Rob came and visited for a weekend in November during Food and Wine Festival. Food and Wine Festival quickly became our favorite time of the year! Especially during October when the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is going on! Anyway during his visit we hit 3 parks in 1 day. We started at Disney's Hollywood Studio, then went to Epcot for the middle of the day to drink and eat at food and wine, then we went over to MK, where I actually worked, and spent the evening there and saw the MK fireworks. Magical day.

ENGAGEMENT
Our engagement story isn't quite what you would expect. In August 2013 my family and I took an amazing 2 week vacation. Rob joined us for the end of the first week, which was at a 2 bedroom villa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge with savannah view (so awesome), and the second week which was a Royal Caribbean Cruise to St. Thomas, St. Maartan, and the Royal Caribbean island. We bought the ring together at St.Thomas but Rob insisted he was going to take it home and keep it a surprise for another time. He didn't, which was actually the surprise. During the last formal night of the cruise we all got professional pictures taken, and after a few with the family Rob pulled me to take a few alone (which was totally normal, we did that every time we took formal pictures. We are terrible at taking pictures together so it is the best way to make sure we have some) After a few clicks Rob got down and one knee and asked me to marry him. My family was nearby watching and the whole area of the ship clapped for us. It was awesome. I of course said yes
Here's the pictures

Here's some pictures of my perfect ring...

CURRENT QUESTIONS
So currently I am trying to look at Hair and Makeup Places. I want somewhere that will come to Disney Property to do the hair and makeup, and would prefer someplace that would offer a group rate so that my family and bridesmaids that are spending the morning getting ready with me can all get their hair and makeup done. I will be down in May for my planning session and who like to do a trial hair and makeup session then.

We are also looking into Officiants! Anyone have recommendations on that? We are looking at a ceremony that can resemble a Catholic ceremony, except no mass. I'm out of my element looking at officiants so I wanted to hear what other people have had or recommend.

Video! We are not sure what people have used for video! I want good quality but I am not looking at a huge package. I'm thinking video the ceremony, and then just some highlights of the reception so entrances, first dances, cake cutting, bouquet throwing, and that's pretty much it. Any vendor recommendations?

And Lastly Rehearsal Dinner! We are not sure where we would like to have our rehearsal dinner. I want somewhere on Disney property, in a resort. Somewhere that is a happy median, so not super fancy California Grill, but also not just homey Trails End. I will entertain the idea of a catered event, but I think using an existing restaurant with a set menu would bring atmosphere. Looking at a group of 35-40 people Recommendations? Ideas?

Thanks in advance to everyone! and I'm looking forward to sharing this amazing experience with all of you.

 

[EpicBilynn]

I've found that beer pong is a pretty fantastic way to meet people. I'm terrible at the actual hand-eye coordination part, but pretty amazing at the distractions. (It's my sweet dance moves that work the best!)

I've not had a Disney wedding (or any wedding...yet) so I can't help with the questions, but I will be following along! CONGRATULATIONS!

 

[elphie101]

Ok, your story is so similar to mine it's scary!! I met my DH senior year of college at a mutual friends party and gave him my number and that was it! Then we graduated and I did the college program for 7 month before moving home!! THEN we got engaged two weeks after you!! We also had 72 people at Atlantic Dance Hall (though we were an Epcot ceremony ) All this makes me super excited to follow your planning!!

I had Patricia LeJeune for my hair and makeup and her team did a fantastic job. She was especially loved by my mother & MIL who were nervous about not having a hair trial beforehand but thrilled with what she came up with. Since we had an Epcot ceremony, our MUAH started at 3:00am, but it lasted until we went to bed at 10:00pm that night! She requires a minimum of 6 services to travel to your room, but hair and makeup are considered separate services so if you have at least 3 people getting both done you're covered. Hair was $70pp and makeup (both airbrush and regular, we did airbrush!) was also $70pp. She was able to come to our Disney resort for our trial during my PS as well.

We used Trinity Wedding Cinema and they were pretty affordable for what we got, style wise. I've heard STVS is a popular lower cost videographer, as well as PD Video (I think that's the name).

We had a family member officiate, so I can't really help you there but I can tell you about our rehearsal dinner! We invited our entire guest list, so with our group size a catered event made more sense. Since one of our hotels we blocked was the Beach Club, we had a dinner buffet at Ariel's. The minimum (at the time we booked anyway) was $1,800, so we could have gone as low as $25pp with our menu (we ended up surpassing that a lot though, plus adding a hosted bar). We had pizza, chicken nuggets, pasta and salad and it was a hit

I have photos and info in my PJ if you want to check it out (there's a table of contents so you don't have to sift through the whole beast), and I can't wait to see more from you!

 

[gillbean90]

Ok, your story is so similar to mine it's scary!! I met my DH senior year of college at a mutual friends party and gave him my number and that was it! Then we graduated and I did the college program for 7 month before moving home!! THEN we got engaged two weeks after you!! We also had 72 people at Atlantic Dance Hall (though we were an Epcot ceremony ) All this makes me super excited to follow your planning!!

I had Patricia LeJeune for my hair and makeup and her team did a fantastic job. She was especially loved by my mother & MIL who were nervous about not having a hair trial beforehand but thrilled with what she came up with. Since we had an Epcot ceremony, our MUAH started at 3:00am, but it lasted until we went to bed at 10:00pm that night! She requires a minimum of 6 services to travel to your room, but hair and makeup are considered separate services so if you have at least 3 people getting both done you're covered. Hair was $70pp and makeup (both airbrush and regular, we did airbrush!) was also $70pp. She was able to come to our Disney resort for our trial during my PS as well.

We used Trinity Wedding Cinema and they were pretty affordable for what we got, style wise. I've heard STVS is a popular lower cost videographer, as well as PD Video (I think that's the name).

We had a family member officiate, so I can't really help you there but I can tell you about our rehearsal dinner! We invited our entire guest list, so with our group size a catered event made more sense. Since one of our hotels we blocked was the Beach Club, we had a dinner buffet at Ariel's. The minimum (at the time we booked anyway) was $1,800, so we could have gone as low as $25pp with our menu (we ended up surpassing that a lot though, plus adding a hosted bar). We had pizza, chicken nuggets, pasta and salad and it was a hit

I have photos and info in my PJ if you want to check it out (there's a table of contents so you don't have to sift through the whole beast), and I can't wait to see more from you!

Thanks so much for the help! It is really funny how similar our stories are! I found your wedding thread and it looked beautiful!!!

 

[MagicalEnding]

Ok, your story is so similar to mine it's scary!! I met my DH senior year of college at a mutual friends party and gave him my number and that was it! Then we graduated and I did the college program for 7 month before moving home!! THEN we got engaged two weeks after you!! We also had 72 people at Atlantic Dance Hall (though we were an Epcot ceremony ) All this makes me super excited to follow your planning!!

I had Patricia LeJeune for my hair and makeup and her team did a fantastic job. She was especially loved by my mother & MIL who were nervous about not having a hair trial beforehand but thrilled with what she came up with. Since we had an Epcot ceremony, our MUAH started at 3:00am, but it lasted until we went to bed at 10:00pm that night! She requires a minimum of 6 services to travel to your room, but hair and makeup are considered separate services so if you have at least 3 people getting both done you're covered. Hair was $70pp and makeup (both airbrush and regular, we did airbrush!) was also $70pp. She was able to come to our Disney resort for our trial during my PS as well.

We used Trinity Wedding Cinema and they were pretty affordable for what we got, style wise. I've heard STVS is a popular lower cost videographer, as well as PD Video (I think that's the name).

We had a family member officiate, so I can't really help you there but I can tell you about our rehearsal dinner! We invited our entire guest list, so with our group size a catered event made more sense. Since one of our hotels we blocked was the Beach Club, we had a dinner buffet at Ariel's. The minimum (at the time we booked anyway) was $1,800, so we could have gone as low as $25pp with our menu (we ended up surpassing that a lot though, plus adding a hosted bar). We had pizza, chicken nuggets, pasta and salad and it was a hit

I have photos and info in my PJ if you want to check it out (there's a table of contents so you don't have to sift through the whole beast), and I can't wait to see more from you!

I'm still in the beginning stages of my wedding planning (my site visit is in February) but, I will be following along and can't wait to see all of your plans!

 

[gillbean90]

So lots of updates since my last post

Photography
We have officially booked Regina Hyman photography for our wedding. We spoke on the phone with her for 30 minutes and she was absolutely wonderful. We were able to customize our package with her. We have her for 10 hours on my wedding day. We gain digital versions of all of our pictures and so can print them as we like. We opted out of all the albums and DVD slideshow because we can make our own albums with the photos, and my fiancee and I don't like things that just take up space, so the digital copies of the photos would be more useful in the first place. Plus my fiancee's mother loves to scrapbook and so she will probably enjoy making something with our photos anyway.
We decided to not go with the Bridal Session or Engagement session. We already had the engagement stuff done and we have her to enough time on the wedding day we don't need a separate session. We are so happy with our plan!

Videography
We went with Trinity Wedding Cinema. They are a wonderful couple and totally accommodating. They made it simply to chose. We also got a preferred pricing because we booked with Regina Hyman and Trinity and they are preferred for each other. We booked their lowest package (video isn't has important to us than photos) and even then we got way more than we original thought we wanted and were gonna get. We did add a documentary edit for the main events in our reception, but with the preferred photographer it made the price for the package stay exactly the same.
So happy so far!

Registry
We registered at Macys! We have the Disney honeymoon registry and Macys now. We had a lot of fun walking around with the scan gun! We did sign up for the Macy's credit card which means whatever people buy off of our registry we will get 10% back on a gift card. Probably can help us get that stand mixer that none of our guests will want to purchase for us ($600?really?) . But I digress. Our registry is a bit different than most. We have been living together for quite some time now, and between our time in college together and my time working in disney with the DCP we accumulated quite a bit of kitchen stuff, including things we have packed away for when we finally get our own house. We also decided that fine china is silly. We will never use it. So instead I am opting towards a super colorful Fiesta set of dishes! I love having a multicolored table setting! So we are just registering for those. we aren't even registering for the corelle ware dishes we want because we don't want the mugs, and they only have them at macy's as a set with the mug. So we will buy the dishes separately at a corelle outlet. I am actually in love with my registry. I can't explain it but it just feels so good to have a complete list of everything you need. Maybe it is just the OCD in me. anyway, moving on....


Website.
I created a website on weddingwire.com. Still figuring a lot out with it, but I don't know if it is super cheesy that I am making a wedding website or if it is actually useful.

Lastly Brooch Bouquet.
I am in love with the brooch bouquet. I saw some pictures recently and I just thought it was pretty cool, and then I thought about it more and more and realized I just could not stop thinking about it. It looks so good, and I am really not a flower person. Plus I can make this myself and feel so special about it, and then I get to keep it forever.
I can't post the picture of my brooch inspiration just yet, but I will has soon as I hit enough posts. It has the colors i want and the surrounding fabric like I want. Red, Silver, White and so perfect!

 

[gillbean90]

finally able to post the inspiration!

 

[Seia]

Welcome!! You're off to a great start with the planning process. That inspiration you posted for your brooch bouquet is absolutely stunning! Can't wait to see more of your plans.

 

[elphie101]

Again, so wild to see so many similarities! We adored David and Kristina and love the video we've gotten back from them so far (hoping to see the final product within the next three months). I had no idea Trinity and Regina were preferred vendors of each other, that's awesome you were able to get great pricing for them!

And of course, the brooch bouquet. I LOVED mine and I wouldn't have changed it for anything. I just brought it to our at home reception and it was just wonderful to really realize I'll have it forever (I plan on displaying it in our home but we don't have the space right now). If I can give you any advice - start EARLY. I started collecting brooches as early as 12 months before, and I loved the tip of wiring at least one or two brooches a night to make the task not as daunting, not to mention that my finger tips really started to hurt after doing a couple of brooch-flowers a night! My aunt ended up taking over and making mine, but it was at least a couple hundred bucks cheaper than a floral bouquet.

 

[gillbean90]

Hi Everyone!

Some more updates on our wedding planning!

Wedding Dress

I already mentioned that I bought my wedding dress, but I figured I'd put a picture here for everyone to see it. I am so in love with this dress! I knew I wanted a Disney wedding dress, and I tried on a bunch, but when this one went on for the first time I just knew it was special. I loved it and I knew at that moment that my fiancee would love how I look in it. My family were always supportive. They felt all the dresses looked good, but we were all in agreement that this dress is THE dress. This is an Alfred Angel Disney Belle dress. It is in ivory, which I choice over the white because it looked more classic.
So without further ado... my wedding dress

And the Back,

another view of the train

And one more closer up. you can see the corset type of top

Here are some of the other dresses I tried on as well, although didn't go with.

Bridesmaid Dresses

2 weekends ago I went shopping with my bridesmaids. I already knew what bridesmaid dress I wanted, but I wanted to make sure everyone liked it (although my bridesmaids are so not picky). They did and so here is the bridesmaids dress (although not in the correct color!) as modeled by my younger sister, who is a bridesmaid of mine

Here is the proper coloring. The embroidered piece will still be white, but the mesh and the dress itself will be this wonderful deep red color!

So there are my dress updates. Enjoy! More updates to come I'm sure!

 

[elphie101]

Such a stunning dress!! I love how those first few layers float out from the waist, and you look very flattering in it.

That bridesmaid dress is wonderful and will go so well with your dress - who is the designer? I don't think I've seen it before, it's so unique!

 

[Seia]

Oh my goodness, your dress is so stunning!! You look so happy in it. It's easy to see that it's THE dress.

 

[gillbean90]

Such a stunning dress!! I love how those first few layers float out from the waist, and you look very flattering in it.

That bridesmaid dress is wonderful and will go so well with your dress - who is the designer? I don't think I've seen it before, it's so unique!

That one is also an Alfred Angelo dress! It's from the Disney Maidens collection! Had to go all Disney for this bridal party, but I think everyone was happy with it!

 

[gillbean90]

With all the progress I'm making on this thread can anyone help me create that table of contents for it? I'm really not sure how to do that. Thanks everyone!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Your dress is so pretty!

As for a table of contents, it's pretty simple to make. You just have to get the individual links to the posts you want in your table of contents. On the new layout, it's the number in the bottom right corner next to "like". Copy that and put it in the window, with this formatting: [ URL = "link for your post goes here" ]Hello! I'm a title![ / URL ]. Just remove the spaces I have in there, which are only there so that you'll see what you need.

 

[elphie101]

Oh no wonder it matches your gown perfectly! It was quite literally made to be!

 

[gillbean90]

Hey Everyone,

I thought you might be interested and seeing the gifts I gave when asking my bridal party to be a part of my wedding. So Here we go!

Bridesmaids
I have 4 wonderful bridesmaids. I choose not to have a maid of honor. I didn't really have anyone that fit the bill for a maid of honor. My younger sister is, well, my younger sister. She is also only 16. She'll be 17 by the wedding, but she's still young. We are close, but we also, like sisters, get on each others nerves CONSTANTLY. The love is there and will always be there but it just didn't seem right to have her be my maid of honor. Then I have Rob's cousin as a bridesmaid. Rob is an only child so there wasn't really anyone on his family to put in the bridal party, so I looked to his cousin, who I get along with well and we see fairly often, and thought it was the right gesture to make. Then I have my friend Christina. We went to high school together and have been friends ever since. We don't talk all the time or anything but whenever we do it is awesome and like we never were apart. We know each other really well, and no longer live close enough to warrant talking all the time. However she seemed a perfect bridesmaid. Then my last bridesmaid is my friend Alicia. Alicia is a new friend, and so before officially asking her to be a part of my wedding I talked with her about it. I explained that we get along REALLY well. REALLY REALLY well, and really enjoy hanging out. We are new friends, but I think it's the beginning of a really good friendship. She agreed and so I asked her to be my last bridesmaid. And thats that. I am very happy with everyone. They are all super nice and accomodating. Of course I could use some MORE opinions on things from them, but they are always willing to go along with whatever I want, which is still nice.
To officially ask my bridesmaids I started of by buying a set of buttons that say Bridesmaid on them. Then I asked each of them who their favorite disney princess is. Didn't seem suspicious cause I do stuff like that all the time. Whats your favorite disney movie? What disney park do you like most? What color jewelry do you wear, cause I always pick silver over gold. Questions like that.
Anyway I purchased them each a disney alex and ani bracelet of their favorite princess. I put it in what was suppose to be a gift card box, but it worked perfectly for this. I pinned the bridesmaid button on top. Then I found on ETSY (love etsy so much btw!) a card that has Elsa and Anna from Frozen on it and says 'Do You Wanna Be My Bridesmaid?' and I bought that card for each of them. Here is a picture of the who gift. Mind you I bought my younger sister 2 disney alex and ani bracelets (couldn't help myself and she is my sister so she can be a little special), but everyone else got the same thing, except only 1 bracelet.

Groomsmen
We have 4 groomsmen. They are all friends of Rob's from either College or High School or both. For the guys I went simple as a formal invitation. Here's what theirs looked like.

Flower Girls
I went a very similar route for my flower girls as my bridesmaids. I bought them a flower bracelet and gave them a similar invite (except pink colored) that asked them to be my flower girl.
heres a picture of my niece (one of my bridesmaids) Holding up the invite. The bracelet isn't there because I ended up ordering it from Europe and it got here late. Don't have a good picture to show from it so I'll post one from the website. Just change to rose color to red.

Heres the website where I got the bracelet from: https://www.etsy.com/transaction/240645967

Ring Bearers
To ask my 3 ring bearers I bought them some awesome personalized t-shirts and sunglasses
Heres a picture of 2 of those boys in the shirts and sunglasses. You can't tell from the picture but on the front of the shirt it has a white bowtie and the sunglasses say ring bearer on one side and their name on the other side.

And thats how I asked my wedding party.

Hope you enjoyed!

 

[gillbean90]

One most kind of rewind post for me.

SAVE THE DATES
We knew we wanted a disney wedding pretty soon after we got engaged, but of course with the disney weddings we couldn't book it officially until a year out. In hindsight we should have taken the chance and gotten our engagement pictures taken for the save the date earlier, like during the summer when it is warm out. However we also knew we wanted to use a mickey hat with our wedding date on it in our pictures. So we waited to make sure we had the date we wanted. Then we ordered the hat and then we got our pictures taken. By this time it was already October/November. It had already gotten cold. So we had picture taken right down the street where there is a park. They weren't exactly what I would have wanted, but thats okay. Still nice.
Then for our save the dates we ordered one of those pictures with the save the date info on the back. I made up disney magnets to put with it and enclosed a sheet with hotel and ticket information so people can start booking their hotels and such. Here's a picture of the whole package attached to one of my friends fridges already.

Hope you enjoyed. BTW Happy Belated Valentines Day to all the disney wedding couples out there!

 

[Disneyducks12]

I really love your story! That is so awesome how you guys meet and your plans seem really great so far, I love your wedding dress, I wanted a Disney dress so BAD but none looked good on me but yours looks FANTASTIC so congrats on getting that and Belle is my favorite character! Your save the dates look so amazing and I love the use of mickey hats and they way you asked your bridal party! I love the idea of a brooch bouquet I just finished mine and I second Jenn's comment start early I only used 50 brooches and it came out smaller than I wanted but took MONTHS to finish ( I am posting about it if you want to see how I made it) but your color scheme looks really good

Happy Planning
Melissa

 

[Seia]

Wow, your Save the Dates turned out great! I especially love the Mickey ears magnet you included with them. What a great idea! Did you make them yourself?